NBA Store posts Dwight Howard Nets shirt for sale

By Matt Moore | NBA writer

March 14, 2012 1:21 AM ET

Tuesday night as Dwight Howard was defeating the Heat in what many felt was the last home game for him as a member of the Orlando Magic (a notion he publicly asked against afterwards), NBAStore.com unveiled a new product item.

Yup. Click for larger image. (NBAStore.com)

That's right, it's a Dwight Howard Nets t-shirt. While he's under contract with the Magic, playing for the Magic, with two days till the deadline.

Classy. The shirt has since been removed.

Howard is reportedly very much leaning towards joining the Nets in free agency if necessary or trade should the Magic choose that approach, or was, before the Magic's thrilling overtime win over the Souteast-division-leading Heat. So it would make sense that there would be an effort to get out in front of this. But consider what this represents.

The NBA locked out is players for four months, creating this chaotic, barbaric schedule in part because of the outcry from owners over the players' ability to dictate where they wanted to go in free agency prior to entering it. Now here's the NBA not only allowing this charade in Orlando to go on after facilitating a trade for Chris Paul to the Clippers instead of forcing him to swallow the money lost by signing elsewhere, but profiting over the hype and hysteria of Howard's seemingly inevitable transition to Brooklyn.

Hey, whatever sells, right?

The more this season progresses, the more you understand why Mark Cuban feels the lockout was such a colossal waste of time for both sides.